Miso, riz rouge mais plus encore – Soupe de riz rouge au miso, courge pink banana et feuilles de chou

misosquashsoup2web

This vegetable soup is wonderful to have for dinner as a control-weight meal. It’s full filling, has the necessary daily vegetable for a healthy diet and is quite satisfying because of it’s great flavor and texture.

I was wondering what is the French translation of banana squash, and weirdly enough, it seems to be courge pink banana. Growing up, I only knew zucchini (courgettes) and pumpkin (potiron or citrouille), so when I came to the US and saw all those different kinds of squash, it teased my curiosity. In France pumkin is mainly used as a vegetable in soups, or side dishes but not in desserts like here.

This rice is not the traditional red rice, it comes from Bhutan and grows in the heights of the Himalayas, it has a nice round shape, nutty flavor and is full of fibers. It’s perfect for soups or stuffing vegetables because it won’t get mushy and will remain firm. Half of this soup is blended so you’ll get the creamy consistency while having chunks of vegetables in it. The red miso paste (Akamiso) which is a little stronger and darker than some other miso such as shiromiso, enhances the flavor of the soup and gives it a nice dark orange color. It does not taste like the regular miso you can find in miso soups in Japanese restaurants but is a little stronger.

Ingredients for 4

  • 1lb banana squash, diced
  • 2 carrots, cut in chunks
  • 1 onion
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 2 celeri sticks
  • 4 kale leaves, blanched and chopped
  • 2 tbs red miso paste
  • one pinch of hot chili powder
  • vegetable broth
  • 1 1/2 cups red rice, cooked
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Preparation

Brown onions in olive oil, add chopped garlic. Add squash, carrots, celeri and cover with vegetable broth to cover the vegetables by 1 inch. Add salt and pepper. Cook for 15 minutes, then add miso.When the soup is cooked, take half the quantity and put in a blender, blend to make it a smooth consistency. Add the rest of the soup. Mix well.

Bring water to a boil in a pot, add kale. Cook until kale is tender about 10 minutes, squeeze the water out and chop roughly. Add the kale to the soup.

Steam red rice and add to the soup. Mix well and serve in bowls.